


Pick Up the Pen

by RiYuYami



Series: Pulling Strings [21]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 10:24:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13188111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiYuYami/pseuds/RiYuYami
Summary: Maybe it was nostalgia that made Henry take out the ink he used to draw the Bendy shorts, or maybe it was fate for what was to happen when he returned to Joey Drew Studio.Either way, he didn’t know that a connection between him and the Dancing Demon was awoken after thirty years.





	Pick Up the Pen

**Author's Note:**

> Remember how in other parts of this series I’ve mentioned that Bendy can see through things drawn with ‘special’ ink, the same kind that he is made out of? Well, I’ve also mentioned before that Bendy had seen through the eyes of a drawing that Henry did years after he had left, so here’s a story about that.
> 
> Basically, it takes place the night Henry had his first nightmare about Bendy, back in Dreams Come True.
> 
> Sorry for any grammar mistakes, I didn't look this over when I finished.
> 
> On with the fic!

The sudden need to draw had been itching at Henry for days now. It’s been a long time since he’s felt the urge to actually draw, though he’s been using his art skills for years. However, he moved to a different medium, painting. He started doing paintings as commissions for stores and people who were willing to pay him for a hobby he picked up after he was kicked out of the animation industry thanks to Joey Drew.

But to draw? Like, sketch and doodle like he use to when he was younger? He couldn’t even remember the last time he did something that wasn’t a tiny doodle or two on the newspaper as he read it, or while talking on the phone.

This urge to rekindle with his old art skills had Henry sitting at work during his break in the little office for employees, a small notepad in front of him with a few doodles all over it. He stared at the pencil drawings of cartoon versions of some of his co-workers, feeling a bit better about having scratched that itch that’s been pestering him for a week now. But he knew what it was that he really wanted to draw, and though he started the basic circle for the head, he couldn’t finish it.

He wanted to draw Bendy with his ‘special’ ink.

Henry honestly couldn’t remember the last time he sat down and drew Bendy. He thinks it might be from one of his visits to his parents’ place, when he had a moment to sit in his little office there. Sure, he still loved Bendy, still felt pride in his creation, but it was hard to draw the imp without dealing with the depression and guilt he was consumed with after Joey literally slammed the door to the studio in his face.

“Whatcha got there, Henry?”

Blinking, Henry looked up to see his boss standing in front of him at the table. Mick Maus was often seen as a surly, blunt man, but once you got to know him, he was actually a very nice guy. However, it’s best not to push your luck with him, he can kick your ass. “Oh, hey Mick. It’s just, uhh… some drawings of the guys here.” He pushed the notepad to his boss.

Mick picked it up, looking it over. “Not bad, you draw cartoons?” He asked. “Don’t look like that Disney shit, at least.”

If there was one thing people needed to know about Mick, it was that he despised Disney cartoons because of Mickey Mouse. Hard to grow up with people making jokes cause of your name like that.

“It’s not, it’s my own style. I told you I use to be an animator, right?” Henry spoke up and Mick nodded. “Yeah, I use to work for Joey Drew Studios, ‘til Joey fired me for going to war, but anyway, I was feeling nostalgic and wanted to see if I could still draw in that style. Looks like I can.” He chuckled lightly, flipping the pencil between his fingers.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good. Do you ever miss doing cartoons?”

“Yeah, it was my dream to do them. Sure, I got to do it for a few years, but my friend was an ass for just droppin’ me after all I did for the company. I was co-founder, and he couldn’t stand the idea that I got drafted. Ended up ruinin’ my reputation at other studios, spreadin’ rumors that I stole credit, uhg.”

“Heh, you ever see that guy again, knock his teeth out, might teach ‘em a lesson.” Mick smirked as he set down the notebook. “Maybe one day you’ll get to be making those cartoons and stuff again, if this Drew guy stops being a real dumbass and hires you again, or at least contacts you to say he’s sorry.”

“Yeah, as if that’ll ever happen. He hasn’t spoken to me in about thirty years.”

“You never know, stranger things have happened.”

Henry blinked, well… that’s true, but he doubted he’d get any sort of contact from his old friend in the future.

\--

Finding the inkwell with the skull on it was easy, Henry had placed the one he had first received as a gift when the studio opened on a special shelf in his bedroom. It was a shelf with a Bendy plush, the inkwell, and a few framed drawings that Henry had found importance in from his old days as an animator.

The other inkwells of ‘special’ ink were in a drawer, though one was left at his parents’ place. He looked at the bottle before heading out to his living room, where a small work desk sat. He set the inkwell down before he took a seat.

It didn’t take Henry long to get out a sheet of paper and his drawing tool. Well, time to see if he could still draw Bendy. He started with a pencil sketch, drawing his head, then the body, having him in a pose where he seemed to have just finished off a little dance, standing in a pose with one hand in the air, the other pointing down, and a foot sticking out.

Then he began drawing the face, the signature grin with the large, bright pie-cut eyes. So far, the pencil sketch looked good, looked perfectly normal, but now it was time to ink. It was amazing that the ink was still liquid, with no chunks of dry ink in it. Heh, maybe Joey was right about it being special.

Carefully, he got his pen ready, and he placed the tip to the paper, beginning to ink Bendy’s smile first.

Unknown to Henry, he seemed to have caught the attention of someone as he drew.

Bendy jerked awake, slamming his head into the pipe he was in, groaning in pain. What the heck? Something felt… weird, on his mouth, he hadn’t felt this strange sensation in years. Uhg… the last time he felt this… uhh… he couldn’t remember. His memories were still out of whacks, thanks to Joey and his horrible need to turn off the machine to punish the demon.

He frowned, rubbing his head as he tried to figure out why he felt something like this, this weird tugging. Bendy tried to figure out what it was, connect it to something… it felt like his ink was moving.

He paused, concentrating, before opening his eyes under the curtain of ink that covered them, looking through the ‘eyes’ of the source of the strange feeling. He winced at the bright light above him, but he saw a hand with a pen. Oh, was… was he being drawn? With his ink?

Who was doing this? There were no functioning animators here in the studio, and no one owned his ink, so who was this? It was hard to see; the other was shadowed from his view by the light of the desk lamp that shone above him. It also didn’t help that Bendy only had one inked in eye to see through.

“Heh, you’re comin’ out a lot better than I expected. Guess this is like ridin’ a bike, you really never forget.”

The Bendy in the pipes gasped, he knew that voice! It’s been… it’s been so long..! It was Henry’s voice! He couldn’t remember the last time he heard him speak to the Toon, but he could never forget that voice!

Was Henry drawing him? Did he do this because of the letter? Did he get it already?

Bendy felt his other eye begin to be inked and he could see the man, he’s changed a bit over the years. Henry looked older, obviously, with graying brown hair, but those same green eyes the little demon knew all too well were still the same. He saw a small half-smile on the man’s face as he continued to draw. “It’s been so long, I wonder what you’re up to. I hope Joey hasn’t done anythin’ to spoil your day. Hm, is the studio even still a thing? Haven’t heard much of it in the past few years…”

He frowned as he started work on a gloved hand. “I bet Joey did somethin’ stupid, like run the company into the ground. Grant was probably pissed… or he merged with another studio, he had talked about it before, but he’s too stubborn to do that without his name still bein’ in the title.”

Bendy frowned, wondering why Henry was talking to him all friendly like this. This man was a traitor! He had abandoned the studio, let Joey have full control! That awful man let things go to ruins because Henry was a selfish jerk! He had no right to talk to Bendy so casually! But the Toon couldn’t complain, he couldn’t yell at Henry, because right now… he was just a little drawing on a sheet of paper, smiling at the artist.

And yet… Bendy realized that this drawing was the first time he had been drawn happy and… actually felt happy himself. When was the last time he felt like this because of someone drawing him? No, no! It had to be a trick, Henry was messing with him, that was it!

He heard a soft sigh from the animator, his attention returning to Henry. “Maybe one day I’ll get to work on you, but after everythin’ with Joey… well… I doubt it. Still, it was nice to at least draw you again.” He sighed again, staring down at the finished drawing of a happy Bendy.

He really wished he could continue working for the studio, he was a mess after Joey kicked him out, and the war and being kicked out again didn’t exactly help that. He stared at the drawing, unconsciously starting to chew on his pen as he was lost in thought, until he tasted something nasty on his tongue.

Henry realized that… uhh… he was chewing on the wrong end of the pen, he somehow ended up chewing on the tip, and now had ink on his tongue. “Uhg! Oh god damn, not again…!” He got out of the chair, leaving the room and Bendy’s line of sight.

The Toon frowned in the pipes as he thought about what he had seen. Henry actually seemed rather… upset, like something was nagging at him. Was it guilt for leaving? The demon hoped so, he wanted the other to have regrets! But… another part of him, a quiet voice in the back of Bendy’s head, told him that it could be that Henry felt upset because he had been forced to leave.

No, no! Bendy’s memories told him that Henry left of his own free will, that he quit! He stopped caring! Joey said so, he said so with honesty for once in his life! He growled and shook his head, curling up a bit as he tried to go back to sleep, he didn’t want to bother with this anymore.

\--

Something urged Bendy to make a connection with the new drawing Henry did the next day, a nagging feeling in his core that told him it was important. With a huff, he opened the connection again, seeing that the drawing had been pinned to the wall behind the desk. He could see more of Henry’s home, and he found the man looking over something.

Bendy knew that paper anywhere, it was from the studio! Henry got the letter! And the human looked so distraught.

“I can’t… should I do this? Should I accept the invitation…?” Henry grumbled to himself as he began to pace back and forth. Bendy watched him curiously, was it really that hard to decide whether to go or not? Everyone else accepted the invites!

Henry stared at the letter before sighing, sitting down on a chair in the living room. “What to do… what to do… is this a trick? Or does he really want to see me again? Well… after everythin’, I guess him contactin’ me means he wants to bury the hatchet…”

Bendy watched him, wondering what he was talking about. He couldn’t deny that he was curious of what Henry was speaking of, and what his decision would be, considering his plans revolved around the idea of Henry actually coming to the studio.

Green eyes looked over at the Bendy drawing, and it was a good thing that Bendy’s power of it was weak, or else the drawing probably would have jumped at the sudden eye contact. “What do you think, li’l punk? Think I should go?”

‘Well, yeah! I want you to go back!’ Bendy thought, but he obviously couldn’t voice his opinions.

Henry seemed to stare at the drawing before he shrugged. “Well, I guess I have no choice then, looks like I’m going back to the studio.” It was weird, but Henry swore he heard Bendy’s voice from the dream in his head. Well, the normal Bendy, not that… “Bendy” character’s voice.

That dream he had last night must have been a warning of sorts, it could be dangerous to go back to the studio, but Henry wasn’t going to just give up so easily. He was going to take the chance; besides, he’s been wanting to have a word with Joey for a while now. Looks like he was going to have to make plans to take time off of work, and to drive all the way back to the city where the studio was.

“I hope things will go well when I get back there, Bendy.” Henry spoke once more, looking at the drawing. “Gonna chat with Joey, settle all this bad blood between us, and see whatever it is he wants to show me. Heh, maybe he’ll be showin’ me you, alive and in the flesh.” He joked as he got up and headed for his room.

Bendy watched him leave, the demon chuckling to himself. ‘Oh, you have no idea how right you are, ol’ man.’

A wandering Butcher Gang member jumped at the loud, manic laughter that began to echo through the pipes from the demon that dwelled inside.

END

**Author's Note:**

> There’s a reason for why I wrote Henry accidentally getting ink in his mouth, especially considering that this story is connected to Dreams Come True. (aka, if you’ve read the other stories involving Henry dreaming of Bendy, his dreams happen because of the ink he accidentally consumed. He has some strange connection with Bendy because of it, which will be explained more in coming stories).
> 
> Also, I figure Bendy had control over certain objects with his ink in them, like the cutouts and cartoons, but he had to be close enough to them to really make them do anything. Or at least have enough ink in them to do something, like he did with his cartoon-self that had watched Henry and the Projectionist in level 14 in Norman’s Fate. A little doodle that Henry did in another part of the state isn’t going to give Bendy much of a connection outside of letting him see and hear Henry.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
